(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cooling electronic components and circuits. More specifically, the present invention relates to attaching electronic components to cooling devices.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Cooling devices such as heat sinks or thermal plates are used in conjunction with electronic and microelectronic circuits/components for cooling these circuits/components. Generally, integrated circuit packages may be cooled by attaching these packages to heat sinks, thermal plates, or other such cooling devices. Heat sinks or thermal plates dissipate the heat generated by the attached integrated circuit packages during the operation of these circuits. To provide optimal heat transfer, heat sinks or thermal plates are designed to have, generally, a large surface area. A surface area, herein refers to any area of the heat sink or thermal plate in contact with a cooling fluid such as air. The size of the surface area may generally determine the heat dissipating capacity of a heat sink or thermal plate.
Typically, heat sinks have a plurality of fins upwardly extending from the base plate. The fins conduct heat from the base plate. Heat is dissipated by a cooling fluid, such as air, flowing through spaces located between the fins. Typically, a cooling space defined by the fins is defined by the base plate and the vertical surfaces of two adjacent fins. The cooling fluid flows through the cooling spaces, thereby making contact with the fins, removing the heat by thermal dissipation (convection) from the fins, and further driving the dissipated heat outside the heat sink. Most heat sinks or thermal plates, are attached to the device to be cooled by way of a base plate. The larger the base plate the more efficient is the heat transfer between the device to be cooled (integrated circuit package) and the cooling device (heat sink or thermal plate).
Generally, a thermal interface such as a film/tape attached between the integrated circuit package and a base plate may be used to reduce the thermal resistance between the integrated circuit package and the heat sink or thermal plate. A thin layer of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) may be applied to the entire thermal interface surface to attach the thermal interface to the heat sink. However, the PSA is not a good thermal conductor.
It is desirable to provide a way of attaching a thermal interface to a cooling device without adding substantial thermal resistance between a device to be cooled such as an integrated circuit package and a cooling device such as a heat sink or a thermal place.